Chewing gum is fun to chew and sometimes even blow bubbles, but when it falls out of your mouth and sticks to something then the fun ends pretty quickly. Getting gum on the couch and our hair was awful enough when we were children and didn’t know better, but now that we are adults its even worse. Unfortunately, gum does fall out and get stuck to things, some of us just weren’t meant to walk and chew gum at the same time.
If you find yourself in a predicament where you’re at work or home and your gum “somehow” falls out of your mouth and sticks to something, here are the techniques for removing chewing gum depending on the different surface materials and fabrics.
There are a few methods of getting gum off including peanut butter, heat, ice, even coconut oil. The method you use will depend on the fabric.
- Use a can of compressed air to freeze the gum or freeze it directly in the freezer. When the gum hardens you can easily scrap the gum off.
- Use and oil to remove the gum. It can be olive, coconut, or vegetable The trick is to pour a little on the gum and then actually “massage” the oil into the gum”. This will remove the “sticky” factor and make removal easier. Once the gum ahs been removed you must put some cornstarch onto the oil spot to soak up the oil. One your cornstarch has sucked up the oil, you’ll want to wash your fabric with regular clothing detergent and let it dry.
- Peanut butter actually does work, as silly as it sounds. Put a small amount of peanut butter on the stain and let it sit for a few minutes. Once it’s sat, peel off the gum with ease and the wash the fabric and usual.
- Heat the surface (good for leathers) with a hair dryer on the hottest setting to get the gum melty and gooey. This makes it easier to scrap off.
- Dish soap is amazing at getting gum of fabrics. If it can get oil off ducks in the ocean, it can do almost anything. We suggest using the dish brand that best gets grease off your pans and oil off ducks. You’ll want mix it with warm water and get it nice and bubbly. Spray it on the fabric and then use a rag that you have also saturated in the soapy mixture as well as a toothbrush to scrap the gum off.
- Hot vinegar is an effective method. You will heat up vinegar and then apply it to the area with a toothbrush until you can scrape it all off.
- What can’t WD-40 fix! Spray the WS-40 to gum directly and peel it off.
If you get gum on leather you will want to try melting, oil or dish soap. Finish up your gum removal with a coat of leather polish once the leather is dry.
If you get gum on fibers, whether they be synthetic or natural, you’ll want to freeze it off or use oil or peanut butter.
If you get gum on carpet, try heating with a hair dryer, hot vinegar or WD-40.
If you get gum on vinyl, freeze it.
If you get gum on your desk, chair or carpet around you at work, try these tricks to get the gum off. If that doesn’t work, tell the person who arranges your commercial cleaning services and they should be able to ask the janitorial staff to pay special attention to that spot.
